Google Earth Lesson

For my first technology lesson with my first grade class, I decided to use Google Earth in order to give them a visual of the globe while they learned about continents. I first zoomed in from a complete view of the globe into Utah and then into their school, Jordan Ridge Elementary. After using this as the hook of the lesson (the kids got pretty excited!), I zoomed out again, followed by zooming in to a couple places outside of the States that the students had been to. This was followed by taking the class on a virtual tour of the 7 continents. After going over this, I helped them memorize the 7 continents through a chant/song. Overall, it was fun, and I'd say the class was pretty entranced by Google Earth!

Lesson using technology

A simple but effective idea that was brought to my attention today out at my assigned school, was using the new projectors for shared reading with the class. By placing the book under the projector, the whole class can see the pictures, read together as they see the teacher's finger guiding them the whole time, and in the end receive an effective shared reading experience. I personally had never seen a projector that one could put something under and it not come out looking like something does under an overhead projector, so this was and is a great idea to me.

Classroom Technology Inventory

In the last three days that I've been with the first-grade class that I was assigned to, there isn't a whole lot of technology that I've seen thus far. What I have seen is that every classroom (that I've been in so far anyway) has a projector that projects the entire image that falls under it's lense, and not just the shadow like the standard/older projectors do. Personally, I think it's amazing, and a great way to present object lessons to the class so that they don't have to come and gather around a table or something of the like.
The other bit of technology that I've seen in my assigned school are the Mac computers in the school computer lab. I was happy to see the multiple learning programs and games that have been installed/downloaded onto these computers for the students' learning enrichment. They have a lot of fun, and at the same time are learning critical thinking skills.
So when I did the technology inventory, I really couldn't say much. The above are about the only technologies that I've seen so far. The teachers don't seem to use it a lot, which I'm hoping will change.

Ancient Wonders of the World Virtual Tour

Here is the link to my virtual plan:

http://sites.google.com/site/ancientwondersoftheworld/my-files